Modern production methods for producing woven fabrics such as high speed air jet looms often require treatment of the fibers or yarns prior to weaving. This process, wherein the yarns are coated with material known as "size" is used to strengthen the yarns and improve their resistance to abrasion, thereby allowing them to withstand the stress of the weaving process. Typically, size is applied by drawing the yarns through a mixture of water and a sizing material soluble in water such as starch or polyvinyl alcohol. The yarn is thereby wetted and coated with the size material. Typically, the yarn is then subjected to a drying or heating process to remove the water, thus leaving a yarn coated with the size material for weaving. After weaving the yarns into a fabric, the size material is typically removed by placing the fabric in water and thus dissolving the size into the water.